Misted Compass
Well-Known Member
Of all the complaints the could be made about current Disney management, "considering every little detail" is the last thing I would think of.
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Universal Epic Universe (South Expansion Complex) - Opens May 22 2025
- Thread starter Bob Harlem
- Start date
Of all the complaints the could be made about current Disney management, "considering every little detail" is the last thing I would think of.
DarkMetroid567
Well-Known Member
I’m tempering my expectations for Epic (I’m still incredibly excited and have my opening day ticket) and recommend that people do the same — the expectations are skyhigh.
Each land looks really small (except MAYBE Berk) and dark ride fans only have Monsters and Ministry to look forward to. Celestial Park will have a great water feature but doesn’t have the gardens and “park-like atmosphere” that was promised. Additionally, Universal Creative hasn’t recently made enough convincingly good non-coasters with the exception of Pets and Beijing’s Jurassic World (and I would personally contest that one…)
But the visuals are going to rock. I’m excited.
Each land looks really small (except MAYBE Berk) and dark ride fans only have Monsters and Ministry to look forward to. Celestial Park will have a great water feature but doesn’t have the gardens and “park-like atmosphere” that was promised. Additionally, Universal Creative hasn’t recently made enough convincingly good non-coasters with the exception of Pets and Beijing’s Jurassic World (and I would personally contest that one…)
But the visuals are going to rock. I’m excited.
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SplashJacket
Well-Known Member
Nintendo has 3 rides and an incredible amount of interactivity and kinetic environment.
Isle of Beck has 3 rides and a world-class show, impressive dining, and dazzling kinetics.
Monsters has 2 rides, impressive dining, and strong atmospheric vibes.
Potter has a ride and a show, impressive interactivity throughout the land, and unbelievable scale for a theme park.
??? I’m not sure where you’re getting that from??? I disagree??? Why was overpromised and under delivered?
I’m not really sure which attractions they actually tried on (in other words, not fast or Fallon) in recency that hasn’t turned out well. Beijing’s JW is mindblowing, and MK really doesn’t deserve the negativity it has gotten—experience it for yourself.
We should we excited
SplashJacket
Well-Known Member
In my view, Epic should easily top Hollywood Studios opening day.
For comparable experiences:
Then for Smugglers Run, TSMM, and Star Tours, Epic has the Donkey Kong coaster, Isle of Berk boats, Yoshi, Monsters Coaster, and the hub Carousel. I’d say that’s a more than fair 3-5 trade.
Then for shows, HWS has Mermaid, Muppet Vision, Disney Jr. Mickey Shorts, and Fantasmic. Epic will have a night show (probably), dragon theater show, and Potter show. The potter and dragons show should be better than everything DHS has barring Fantasmic.
This is before considering streemosphere and atmospheric upgrades Epic will have over the often ill-contrived DHS.
You’re welcome to temper your expectations on Epic, but really should be the most impressive opening day park since Epcot, and should be able to compete and beat current “world-class” Orlando parks.
For comparable experiences:
| DHS | Epic |
| Rise | Potter |
| ToT | Monsters |
| MMRR | MK |
| Slinky | Isle of Berk Coaster |
| Alien Swirling Saucers | Isle of Berk Flat |
| Rockin Rollercoaster | Star Dust Racers |
Then for Smugglers Run, TSMM, and Star Tours, Epic has the Donkey Kong coaster, Isle of Berk boats, Yoshi, Monsters Coaster, and the hub Carousel. I’d say that’s a more than fair 3-5 trade.
Then for shows, HWS has Mermaid, Muppet Vision, Disney Jr. Mickey Shorts, and Fantasmic. Epic will have a night show (probably), dragon theater show, and Potter show. The potter and dragons show should be better than everything DHS has barring Fantasmic.
This is before considering streemosphere and atmospheric upgrades Epic will have over the often ill-contrived DHS.
You’re welcome to temper your expectations on Epic, but really should be the most impressive opening day park since Epcot, and should be able to compete and beat current “world-class” Orlando parks.
Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
I think the park looks amazing. The Monsters land looks really good, especially the dark ride. If it's scary and somewhat intense for a dark ride, it should be one of the best rides in the park.
What I don't get is why so many hate on the coasters?
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
A lot of Pirates and Haunted Mansion are painted flats. You don't notice because it's dark inside
Many AA face sculpts, and figure sculpts were recycled for EPCOT Center, 1983 New Fantasyland and other projects
Many special effects in Disney rides were actually very low tech
A number of fixtures in the parks were massed produced by other companies and then ordered and painted
WED spent a lot of money, and cared very much for detail, but they knew how to spend it. They didn't waste it on unnecessary revisions or materials and knew how the totality of a scene or set would look in stage lighting from the guest perspective
I think that's what he is talking about.
DarkMetroid567
Well-Known Member
No, no, I recognize this!! It’s gonna be awesome. But a lot of the things you listed could still disappoint. We won’t know until we ride it! Maybe Ministry is boring, or maybe the steak at Das Steakhouse is tough and gross. I’m basically saying that those expecting 10/10 experiences are inevitably going to not reach that expectation. Also, I meant that the footprints for each land are quite small. There’s not a ton to explore, especially Dark Universe.
I think Celestial Park (in its current form) looks weirdly small in terms of actual walkable areas, and the architecture design is really dull. I think the decision to make Helios the park icon itself was a dumb idea, but eh, whatever.
In the last 10 years, Villains, Mario Kart, Yoshi, Fast & Furious, Kong, and Beijing’s Kung Fu Panda boat ride have all ranged from disappointing to outright bad, imo. I’ve now been on MK enough to know I’m never going to think it’s better than Midway Mania. I’ll give Jurassic World Adventure’s incredible animatronics credit, but I had high expectations for that ride and it did not meet them, and the friends I was there with agreed. JWA is understandably huge among theme park enthusiasts but from what I saw is not too popular in Beijing. It almost always has a line half the length of Jurassic Flyers or Forbidden Journey.
I think that’s true. Though I don’t really care how it ranks amongst the existing WDW and UOR parks, and as we’ve learned from Orlando, it matters less what is available on opening day and more what they actually keep up ten years later.
I’m huge on coasters so I’m certainly not complaining but I suppose it does come at an opportunity cost of other experiences like traditional dark rides or family rides. I can’t see too many parents seeing Epic as a kid-friendly park unless their kid is into Mario.
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Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
Just chiming in as everyone makes the inevitable WDW vs. Epic comparisons...
While those comparisons have focused (very reasonably) on attractions, theming, and footprint, one aspect I didn't see mentioned was the touring experience itself. While preferences in this vein are subjective, for my family, a huge plus of Epic is that (at least to start out) there won't be a tiered line system (other than, presumably, mentally disabled and their parties, using the usual DAS-type access sytem). The #1 thing I've come to hate, loathe and despise about WDW is the paid Lightning Lanes/Genie+, which are demoralizing to watch when you're being constantly shunted aside in standby, and embarrassing to use when you've bought Lightning Lane access. (While the same argument could be made about Express Pass in the other two Universal parks, I'd argue that the Express Pass system is better proportioned and doesn't typically hurt the guest experience like ILL/G+ does: whenever we haven't had it, we've found that standby lines still move fast enough that we don't feel like second-class citizens).
I love the idea of visiting a brand-new park on equal footing with every other guest. When my family visited WDW during COVID when everything was standby-only, I was reminded anew of how egalitarian and fair that feels, and the comaradarie that arises among guests even during long, hot waits, because everybody is in it together.
While I know I'd be excited to visit Epic Universe regardless, I'm relieved and glad that Universal didn't try to borrow a page from Disney, and start off with an upcharged in-your-face caste system. I honestly hope (as futile as that hope probably is) they won't ever change it.
While those comparisons have focused (very reasonably) on attractions, theming, and footprint, one aspect I didn't see mentioned was the touring experience itself. While preferences in this vein are subjective, for my family, a huge plus of Epic is that (at least to start out) there won't be a tiered line system (other than, presumably, mentally disabled and their parties, using the usual DAS-type access sytem). The #1 thing I've come to hate, loathe and despise about WDW is the paid Lightning Lanes/Genie+, which are demoralizing to watch when you're being constantly shunted aside in standby, and embarrassing to use when you've bought Lightning Lane access. (While the same argument could be made about Express Pass in the other two Universal parks, I'd argue that the Express Pass system is better proportioned and doesn't typically hurt the guest experience like ILL/G+ does: whenever we haven't had it, we've found that standby lines still move fast enough that we don't feel like second-class citizens).
I love the idea of visiting a brand-new park on equal footing with every other guest. When my family visited WDW during COVID when everything was standby-only, I was reminded anew of how egalitarian and fair that feels, and the comaradarie that arises among guests even during long, hot waits, because everybody is in it together.
While I know I'd be excited to visit Epic Universe regardless, I'm relieved and glad that Universal didn't try to borrow a page from Disney, and start off with an upcharged in-your-face caste system. I honestly hope (as futile as that hope probably is) they won't ever change it.
DarkMetroid567
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately, Universal intends to start selling Express before the park opens. Whether that means that Express will be available on opening day is unclear, but it’s looking likely that Express will be offered very soon in the park’s life.
Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
The difference is with Universal Express pass is also limited due to the price point. With how few guests buy it, it doesn't affect standby the same as Disney's system.
TennHokies
New Member
I love this comparison SplashJacket! My family’s #1 (by far) Orlando theme park is DHS. I‘ve tried to temper my own excitement for Epic by hoping it slots in as #2 for us - to me that would be a great win. I am SUPER EXCITED to test this theory in June as we‘ll be staying at Helios for 3-nights (currently 1-day at Epic) along with an After-hours night at DHS.
After-hours vs. brand new Epic park crowds is certainly an unfair comparison, but I’ll be interested to see how we all rate the attractions.
TennHokies
New Member
Just remember, we‘ll always have a chance for long line camaraderie - thanks to Hagrid’s
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
Nintendo has 3 rides and an incredible amount of interactivity and kinetic environment.
Isle of Beck has 3 rides and a world-class show, impressive dining, and dazzling kinetics.
Monsters has 2 rides, impressive dining, and strong atmospheric vibes.
Potter has a ride and a show, impressive interactivity throughout the land, and unbelievable scale for a theme park.
??? I’m not sure where you’re getting that from??? I disagree??? Why was overpromised and under delivered?
I’m not really sure which attractions they actually tried on (in other words, not fast or Fallon) in recency that hasn’t turned out well. Beijing’s JW is mindblowing, and MK really doesn’t deserve the negativity it has gotten—experience it for yourself.
We should we excited
The problem is that the ride lineup looks weak to me. There are a good number, but very few of them look like attractions worth waiting in line to ride.
Monsters and HP are the only two that look like potential E tickets outside of standard roller coasters (i.e. not heavily themed ones). The Donkey Kong coaster could be solid. Nothing else in the park looks especially interesting from a ride standpoint. The shows will hopefully be good, but HTTYD will need to be super impressive since I don't care about the IP at all (I also think Berk as a whole land looks generic and uninteresting).
The Mario Kart ride is terrible as a Mario Kart ride -- it's mediocre as a general Mario attraction. There is the potential there for something pretty good, but they'd need to get rid of the bad AR shooting gallery.
I'm not even overly optimistic about the HP ride, because it's apparently going to be pretty heavy on screens... and I think both Forbidden Journey and Gringott's are disappointing/not great (the queue is better than the attraction for both). I hope they prove me wrong, though!
Obviously this is all personal opinion and subjective; I'm not suggesting anyone else is wrong to be excited about what EU is offering -- just that most of what they've shown isn't very exciting to me. I don't think it's a shock that some people can look at EU and not be overly impressed.
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Epcot81Fan
Well-Known Member
We waited five years at WDW for this:
Epic Universe will do just fine.
Epic Universe will do just fine.
DarkMetroid567
Well-Known Member
Funnily enough, Celestial Park looks like EPCOT’s new core in a lot of ways. They have a similar vibe going on.
Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
This is the aspect that makes me most baffled about the recent turn toward just IP-based attractions and lands at the parks: if you don't care about the IP and/or haven't seen the relevant movies, there is an immediate barrier to entry. Berk is like that for me, but so are all the Cars lands. In the latter case, I have seen the first 2 Cars movies and visited Carsland in DCA which, admittedly, was impressive in terms of its scale and details. I am so indifferent to those films, though, that I actually find a lot of the Cars-related details subtract from what could be an amazing Route 66 land. Loosing Rivers of America for those films also makes the whole thing even more bitter because I really don't care how well the new area themed to that franchise.
I understand that IPs provide an immediate connection for many people and perhaps times have just changed and the only shared mythologies that exist are increasingly based around film and TV franchises. Increasingly, though, I'm finding it hard to imagine what anyone who wasn't interested in Disney films or the grab bag of IPs that Uni has would get out of visiting either resort beyond (at least in Disney's case) the stuff left over from 20+ years ago.
SplashJacket
Well-Known Member
I’ve never seen Harry Potter, but those lands and attractions are exceptional.
Most every attraction is designed so that you don’t need to know the IP to enjoy it.
Those with a connection to an IP enjoy that benefit, but those without a connection experience the attraction just like they would with a non-ip ride like Big Thunder.
Rich Brownn
Well-Known Member
As for the HTTYD show, look at the one in China on YouTube. Its what we're getting, and yes a full size Toothless (with Hiccup) flying over your head and landing on the stage is pretty darn impressive
Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
I guess that must be true for most people. To be honest, though, I am also indifferent to Harry Potter (in that I have only seen 2 of the movies) and that has also meant I don't care that much about the Harry Potter lands despite the fact they are obviously well-themed.
This may just be more a case of a certain type of theme park goer from the past being left behind and not a problem with how theme parks are being designed in the present. I feel that what at least Disney used to do exceptionally well was tap into some kind of collective subconscious which made the parks compelling whether or not you were a fan of Disney films. Perhaps now there is less of an uncontentious collective subconscious to draw upon which leaves you with recognisable IPs as a starting point. Universal, to be honest, was always a lot more 'ride the movies' and Epic Universe fits that model so presumably they should be more competitive with Disney as long as their quality is up to the same standard.